Update: external cause-of-injury coding in hospital discharge data--United States, 1994.

Although analysis of hospital discharge data (HDD) can provide important information about severe nonfatal injuries, HDD often do not include information about the causes of these injuries (e.g., motor-vehicle crashes and assaults). Inconsistent reporting of causes of injury has limited the usefulness of HDD for injury surveillance. The International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) includes codes for classifying external causes of injury (E-codes). This report describes progress in implementing E-code reporting in states.